An architectural monument in the raion is the Petropavlovs'ka Church (1840 – village of Krasne), Church of the Birth of the Theotokos (Russian: церковь Рождества Богородицы) (1799 – urban-type settlement of Novoekonomichne), and the Voznesens'ka Church (1893 – village of Novotroyits'ke). The composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) was born here.

In May 2014, the raion requested a referendum for its absorption into the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, citing the instability in the Donetsk Oblast and order and stability in Dnipropetrovsk. Dnipropetrovsk governor Ihor Kolomoisky said that the oblast was willing to do so, assuming it was popular opinion in the raion.

On 21 May 2016, Verkhovna Rada adopted decision to rename Krasnoarmiisk Raion to Pokrovsk Raion and Krasnoarmiisk to Pokrovsk according to the law prohibiting names of Communist origin.[2]